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|battles = *American War of Independence *French Revolutionary Wars * *Capture of Gorée * *First Battle of Algeciras *Napoleonic Wars |battles_label = |awards = |relations = |laterwork = |signature = }} Solomon Ferris (c. 1748 – May 1803) was an officer in the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Ferris's rise through the ranks brought him the commands of several small ships during the period of peace between the end of the American War of Independence and the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, but he did not achieve the rank of a full post-captain until the start of the wars with France. He spent most of the war in command of a single ship, on a variety of eclectic services. More active and conventional commands followed, and he was involved in the capture of Gorée in 1801. Returning fresh from this triumph, he was appointed to the command of the 74-gun , and sent out with a fleet under Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez to patrol French and Spanish ports. While carrying out this task, Saumarez discovered and attacked a squadron under Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois. This action, the First Battle of Algeciras, was hard-fought, and the British were hampered by shallow waters, light breezes and the presence of enemy shore batteries. ''Hannibal'' ran aground and was heavily damaged, sustaining a number of casualties. Attempts to float her off failed, and the rest of the fleet was unable to assist her. In a hopeless position, Ferris was forced to surrender his ship. A court-martial soon acquitted Ferris of any blame, and he was quickly given other commands. He went out to the West Indies as senior officer at Port Royal, but was struck with a sudden illness and died aboard his command. He was most remembered for his defence of the ''Hannibal'', for which he was praised in many of his obituaries. He appears in Patrick O'Brian's nautical historical novel ''Master and Commander'', where he is described as a former shipmate of the fictional character Jack Aubrey. ==Early life== Ferris was born circa 1748 and embarked on a naval career. He was commissioned as a lieutenant on 9 September 1778, during the American War of Independence, and was further promoted to commander on 22 November 1790. He went on to command small ships prior to the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. His first ship, which he was appointed to in March 1791, was the 14-gun . His command was short lived, and he paid her off in September that year. This was followed with his transferral to the 16-gun in October 1792, and his sailing for the African coast in November that year. After a period in command of the ''Scorpion'', Ferris was promoted to post captain on 14 October 1793, after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, and took command of . Ferris spent the next six years in command of her, on a variety of duties. ''Inflexible'' had originally been a 64-gun third rate, but by the time Ferris commissioned her, she had been refitted as a storeship for the Downs. She was restored to a 64-gun ship in 1795, and commissioned for service, still under Ferris, for Admiral Adam Duncan's fleet in the North Sea.〔 From March 1798 she was employed as a troopship, and was fitted out as such between May and July 1799, before finally being paid off in October 1799.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Solomon Ferris」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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